Chapter 1: A stormy night
by leonkennedy175
Summary: Ashley waits up for Jamie to come home on a stormy night, but ends up falling asleep and having nightmares...


The trees started to blow outside as a storm was slowly approaching. The leaves rustled, while the limbs of the trees brushed up against a house. It was mid summer, which meant it was quite warm outside, even though it was nighttime. It had been humid earlier in the day, which made it even more probable for a storm to come to pass by. The sky was building up with dark clouds, although you wouldn't be able to tell of course, only by the disappearance of the stars.

Ashley started to yawn a bit and glanced at the clock that sat on the desk, not even 5 feet from her. She was stretching across the sofa, waiting for her boyfriend to come back home. It was just past 10... "He should be home soon.." She thought aloud. She yawned again and then rested her head back against the arm of the sofa. She smiled gently and let her eyes flutter shut, "I'll just rest my eyes for a moment..." She ended up drifting off to sleep...

1 hour later...

The storm had all but arrived as Ashley started to stir a bit in her sleep. Her eyebrows wrinkled and she whimpered a bit, having yet again the same nightmare. Her eyes shot open and she instantly sat straight up on the sofa. She was hyperventilating, which soon died down to just shaky breathing. She lifted one of her hands to her forehead and it came back drenched in sweat. She flinched as she head a noise at the door and bit her lip, getting up slowly on shaky legs, that felt more like rubber than anything else. She swallowed nervously as she heard the wind howl outside, and the rain that started to pelt against the windows. She sniffled a bit and wiped away any tears that had still been on her face.

Just as Ashley was about to grab an umbrella for a weapon against whatever was outside, the door opened. Her eyes widened, but then slowly her vision blurred...as tears started to stream down her cheeks. She sniffled and ran to her boyfriend, not caring if she got wet from his soaked clothes. She hugged him and said, "I was waiting for you to come back, but then..." Her voice broke off and she looked away. "I'm sorry...You must be tired." She pulled away from him hesitantly and hugged herself as she stared down at the ground. She was shaking still as she bit her lip.

She felt warm arms embrace her and she looked up, slightly confused. "Jamie?" He looked down at her and said, "Lets lock up and head to bed..." She nodded and then started to pull away from him, when he shook his head and held her tighter. "Together..." She swallowed and then nodded. "Ok." She smiled weakly and pulled away from the hug, just holding onto his hand now.

They went through the house silently, locking windows and doors together, and then started to head up the stairs. Ashley leaned into Jamie and yawned. "I'm so tired..." He nodded and said, "I know sweetheart...You can sleep soon." "I had another one of those dreams..." She mumbled, hoping he wouldnt hear her.

Ashley reached the top of the stairs and then almost booked it to the bedroom, but forced herself to be restrained. She bit her lip and hoped Jamie hadn't heard what she had said. She looked down at the floor as she walked. and didn't bother to say anything else.

Jamie stepped in front of Ashley, blocking her way into the bedroom, as they walked up to the room. "What do you mean you had another dream?" He looked down at her, and was a bit happy that he was taller than she was. Although...He was a bit too tall, or so he thought most of the time. He was almost at least a head taller then ashley, and knew that she hated being so short. He noticed her look waver and could instantly see through her. "Anoher one of them again? Was it the same one?" She nodded and tried to push past him, into thier room. Jamie shook his head and said, "We should talk about this. Something is obviously bugging you if these are starting again. Some kind of stress usually brings these on...You know that Ashley." Ashley shook her head in responce and tried to push past him again. "I just want to go to bed. Please Jamie..." She didn't want to talk about her dream. The same dream that haunted her thoughts when she was stressed out, or depressed...Or just upset in general. She had never told Jamie about it, and she didn't plan on it either. He didn't need to know her emotional pain, and her silent demon's that she was fighting.

Jamie sighed and let her pass by him. "Alright...But tomorrow i expect you to tell me everything Ashley...Do you understand me?" Ashley glanced back at him and seen that he was leaning against the doorway. Even though there was no light on, she could see the outline of his face and muscles that showed through his soaked shirt, that clung to both his chest and stomach. She looked down again, letting her hair fall in front of her face. She nodded in the dark room and said, "Alright..." She whispered the word, and wasn't too sure if he had heard her, but apparently he had, because she noticed his shoulders relax as he walked into the room. He passed by her and closed the curtains on the windows.

20 minutes later...

Ashley climbed into the large bed, and crawled over to Jamie, who was in the middle of the bed. She smiled weakly as she laid next to him. She yawned a bit and then glanced up at him. She noticed that he was lost in thought, and frowned. He was probably thinking about what she would say tomorrow. She had kept this from him long enough though. She knew how he must feel, wakling in the dark with this. She used to wake from the dream, screaming or having bursts of crying fits. She had just shrugged it off as a bad dream that would go away. But, it never did. Whenever she was worried, stressed, depressed or even upset in general...The dream would come back and haunt her. He had asked and asked her, almost practically begging for her to tell him what it was about. But she had refused every time, because she didn't think he needed to know about it. This time though, she knew that she had to do what was right. She had to tell him, maybe it would make her load easier, set her mind at ease even.

She sighed as she heard the storm finally reach it's peak, and curled into a ball at Jamie's side, closing her eyes. She yawned once more and then fell asleep, as she took in the fresh smell of the room, and most of all, the familiar scent of the man she loved. Who was next to her, alive and well. What more could she ask for?


End file.
